 | The 131st Annual Meeting (November 15-19, 2003) of APHA |
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| The 131st Annual Meeting (November 15-19, 2003) of APHA |
Galatea C King, MPH1, Roger Trent, PhD1, Gail C. Farmer, DrPH2, and Mitchell P. LaPlante, PhD3. (1) Injury Surveillance and Epidemiology Section, EPIC Branch, California Department of Health Services, 611 N. 7th Street, MS 39A, P.O. Box 942732, Sacramento, CA 94234-7320, (916)445-3640, gking@dhs.ca.gov, (2) Department of Health Science, California State University Long Beach, 1250 Bellflower Blvd., Long Beach, CA 90840, (3) Disability Statistics Center, Institute for Health and Aging, University of California, San Francisco, 3333 California Street, Room 340, San Francisco, CA 94118
Approximately 23% of the California population 21 years and over report having some type of disability. Research consistently shows that people with disabilities are demographically distinct and more likely to be unemployed, less educated, and low income than people without disabilities.
Using the California Health Interview Survey (CHIS) 2001 data, we investigate the characteristics and particular vulnerabilities of people who report disabilities. The CHIS is a two-stage, geographically stratified random-digit dial telephone survey administered to 55,428 households. CHIS collects information on the health of Californians and a variety of health issues and behaviors. Using three questions assessing functional limitation, we created a disability index that categorized people as having from 0 through 3 limitations (mean = .29, s.d. = .71). In addition to providing a description of this population and associated disparities, we further explore the effects of race/ethnicity and socioeconomic status on disability, independently of one another.
We found that 15% of the California population, approximately 3.4 million adults, have one or more functional limitations. Results show that variations in number of limitations reported differ by gender, age, race/ethnicity, and marital status. Depending on the number of limitations, there are disparities in educational attainment, household income, and employment. We conclude that people with any level of limitation are vulnerable in ways that have consequences for health status and health seeking behavior. Since more than one in eight adult Californians report that they have at least one limitation, the public health consequences of disabilities are great.
Learning Objectives:
Keywords: Disability, Data/Surveillance
Presenting author's disclosure statement:
I do not have any significant financial interest/arrangement or affiliation with any organization/institution whose products or services are being discussed in this session.